Advice on Length/Sections for Instrumental Tracks?

[rk000]

Hi, I'm hoping to take advantage of more music library instrumental opportunities, but thought it would be a good idea to ask for expert advice first. I do both solo instrumental acoustic guitar and a guitar/electronic hybrid.Matto posted in another thread that "The VAST majority of stuff I do has arbitray lengths, preferrably between about 1:30 to 2:30...If "promo edits" (:10, :15, :30, :60) are required, more often than not the library will do them. If you know ahead of time that they are required, you may want to think about accomodating that as you write. But for all regular submissions or compositions, I never think about that. And of course 2:59 would make no sense whatsoever, since there is no 180s promo edit. That would be one heck of a long commercial..."So, is it fair to say then that, as a general rule of thumb, the cap should usually be 2:30? On a related note, in general, would these be good arrangements? 1) A section with melody / B section with melody / A section with melody2) A section intro (no melody) / A section with melody / B section with melody / A section with melody3) A section with melody / B section with melody / A section with solo (fade out)I'm thinking of the ones above as variations on a jazz standard form.In doing some solo guitar instrumentals, I tend to stick with what I think of as a 'pop' form even though there are no words. 4) So, each section has a different melody: Verse/Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/Bridge/Chorus/Chorus5) Finally, what about one A section that adds new parts and builds as it repeats?Assuming all tracks are no longer than 2:30, are any of these arrangements better suited to the needs of music libraries looking for instrumental music? Sorry if this is all too abstract.I appreciate your help!Thanks,Bobby

[matto]

Stay away from fades, you'd always want a composed ending. Also I would stay away from "noodle-y" solos; solos are fine where stylistically appropriate, but keep them on the melodic side.ABA, AABA, evolving A section perhaps with a brief bridge, ABAB, and related forms are all fine. Orchestral pieces are often a bit more fluid formally, with less clearly defined sections, and the same can be said of other "underscore" style cues. Avoid drastic mood or tempo changes between sections, the whole piece should have the same mood to it overall, although it can evolve. In that same vein, avoid bridges that take the song really far afield. And keep intros on the short side.The 2:30 length is not an absolute maximum, 1:30 to 2:30 is just a good ballpark figure for instrumentals

[rk000]

Thanks again, Matto! The chance to get questions answered by those in the know is a tremendous help for someone trying to figure this all out. May your forwards be plentiful and bear many royalties.

[laserdog]

I find the 10: 15: second & so on theory suites me well. I write a jillion cues every day and keep sending them to my publisher. It works for me